The Zero Point
energy described by quantum field theory may be most familiar
as a buzzword found in pseudoscientific descriptions of perpetual motion
machines or as a plot device in
science fiction. Zero Point energy is
the almost unimaginably large amount of energy associated with the void
of space and believed to be the source of the cosmological constant.
Quantum physics doesn't seem to provide us with any mechanism to tap
into Zero Point energy directly to create "free energy" machines.
However, it does produce the well documented Casimir effect on
objects that are extremely close together. Nanotechnology
researchers at the University of Leicester think that means the
energy could provide the answer to allowing nanobots to easily
manipulate small objects without touching them. This would be an
advantage over traditional mechanics because at the nanoscopic scale
any matter which comes into contact tends to be "sticky", making it hard
for tiny robots to manipulate things without becoming stuck to them. The
a research project in cooperation with several other institutions.
Bell Labs published
a paper in 2001 predicting that micromechanical devices might be
able to take advantage of Casimir force.
The SciFi series StarGate Atlantis talks about Zero Point Modules all
the time (They call them Zed PM or ZPM). It's sort of like Gilligan's
Island where they can't get off the island because every time they try
they fail by the end of the show. On Stargate Atlantis the plot goes
that they start off finding a ZedPM and by the end of the show, it turns
out it's either run down already or they've lost it for one reason or
another. Boo hoo. Foiled again. No ZPM for Stargate Atlantis. I call
it the Gilligan effect and every series has one. So this Gilligan
effect proves that scientists will never be able to retain and use the
full power of the ZPMs even at a nano scale.
If I remember my Stargate tech correctly, each ZPM actually contains an
artificially created mini-universe. As the zero point energy is tapped
out of it, the mini-universe eventually reaches maximum entropy, at which
point your ZPM is no good anymore (because no one around today can
replicate the ancient technology used to create the ZPMs). They're
supposed to last a million years or so with normal use but, of course,
the Stargate characters only have a handful of million-year-old ZPMs to
begin with and they always seem to run into weird situations that suck
one of their ZPMs dry in 10 minutes.